Method And Apparatus For Configuring Time Domain-Resource Allocation For Different Service Types In Mobile Communications

ABSTRACT

Various solutions for configuring time domain-resource allocation (TD-RA) for different service types with respect to user equipment and network apparatus in mobile communications are described. An apparatus may receive a configuration of a plurality of TD-RA tables from a network node. The apparatus may activate at least one of the plurality of TD-RA tables. The apparatus may determine an allocated resource according to the activated at least one of the plurality of TD-RA tables. The apparatus may perform a transmission on the allocated resource.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION(S)

The present disclosure is part of a non-provisional application claiming the priority benefit of U.S. Patent Application No. 62/686,737, filed on 19 Jun. 2018, the content of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure is generally related to mobile communications and, more particularly, to configuring time domain-resource allocation (TD-RA) for different service types with respect to user equipment and network apparatus in mobile communications.

BACKGROUND

Unless otherwise indicated herein, approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims listed below and are not admitted as prior art by inclusion in this section.

In New Radio (NR), ultra-reliable and low latency communications (URLLC) is supported for emerging applications that demands high requirements on end-to-end latency and reliability. A general URLLC reliability requirement is that a packet of size 32 bytes shall be transmitted within 1 millisecond end-to-end latency with a success probability of 10⁻⁵. URLLC traffic is typically sporadic and short whereas low-latency and high-reliability requirements are stringent. For example, the control reliability of URLLC has to be stricter than the data reliability which is up to 10⁻⁶ block error rate (BLER).

A user equipment (UE) shall determine resource block assignments in time domain using the resource assignment field in detected physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) downlink control information (DCI). The time domain resource assignment field of the DCI provides scheduling parameters including a slot offset (e.g., K0/K2), a start symbol position and a duration to be applied in a transmission. In current NR specification, it only configures up to 16 different time domain resource assignment possibilities UE-specifically by RRC. Then, the control information containing the scheduling grant contains a field (e.g., with up to 4 bits) indicating one of these semi-static configurations to the UE. However, the total number of possible combinations (e.g., the combinations of K0/K2, start symbol, duration) are much greater than 16. The current TD-RA framework is not sufficient for low-latency services (e.g., URLLC services) or multiple service types.

Accordingly, how to allocate TD-RA for different service types may become an important issue for supporting multiple service types in the newly developed wireless communication network. Therefore, it is needed to provide proper schemes to configure TD-RA for different service types.

SUMMARY

The following summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be limiting in any way. That is, the following summary is provided to introduce concepts, highlights, benefits and advantages of the novel and non-obvious techniques described herein. Select implementations are further described below in the detailed description. Thus, the following summary is not intended to identify essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended for use in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

An objective of the present disclosure is to propose solutions or schemes that address the aforementioned issues pertaining to configuring TD-RA for different service types with respect to user equipment and network apparatus in mobile communications.

In one aspect, a method may involve an apparatus receiving a configuration of a plurality of TD-RA tables from a network node. The method may also involve the apparatus activating at least one of the plurality of TD-RA tables. The method may further involve the apparatus determining an allocated resource according to at least one activated TD-RA table. The method may further involve the apparatus performing a transmission on the allocated resource.

In one aspect, a method may involve an apparatus receiving a configuration of a TD-RA table from a network node. The method may also involve the apparatus determining a size of the TD-RA table. The method may further involve the apparatus determining an allocated resource according to the TD-RA table and the size of the TD-RA table. The method may further involve the apparatus performing a transmission on the allocated resource.

In one aspect, an apparatus may comprise a transceiver capable of wirelessly communicating with a network node of a wireless network. The apparatus may also comprise a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver. The processor may be capable of receiving, via the transceiver, a configuration of a plurality of TD-RA tables from the network node. The processor may also be capable of activating at least one of the plurality of TD-RA tables. The processor may further be capable of determining an allocated resource according to at least one activated TD-RA table. The processor may further be capable of performing, via the transceiver, a transmission on the allocated resource.

In one aspect, an apparatus may comprise a transceiver capable of wirelessly communicating with a network node of a wireless network. The apparatus may also comprise a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver. The processor may be capable of receiving, via the transceiver, a configuration of a TD-RA table from the network node. The processor may also be capable of determining a size of the TD-RA table. The processor may further be capable of determining an allocated resource according to the TD-RA table and the size of the TD-RA table. The processor may further be capable of performing, via the transceiver, a transmission on the allocated resource.

It is noteworthy that, although description provided herein may be in the context of certain radio access technologies, networks and network topologies such as Long-Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced, LTE-Advanced Pro, 5th Generation (5G), New Radio (NR), Internet-of-Things (IoT) and Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT), the proposed concepts, schemes and any variation(s)/derivative(s) thereof may be implemented in, for and by other types of radio access technologies, networks and network topologies. Thus, the scope of the present disclosure is not limited to the examples described herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of the present disclosure. The drawings illustrate implementations of the disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure. It is appreciable that the drawings are not necessarily in scale as some components may be shown to be out of proportion than the size in actual implementation in order to clearly illustrate the concept of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example communication apparatus and an example network apparatus in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an example process in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an example process in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED IMPLEMENTATIONS

Detailed embodiments and implementations of the claimed subject matters are disclosed herein. However, it shall be understood that the disclosed embodiments and implementations are merely illustrative of the claimed subject matters which may be embodied in various forms. The present disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the exemplary embodiments and implementations set forth herein. Rather, these exemplary embodiments and implementations are provided so that description of the present disclosure is thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art. In the description below, details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the presented embodiments and implementations.

Overview

Implementations in accordance with the present disclosure relate to various techniques, methods, schemes and/or solutions pertaining to configuring TD-RA for different service types with respect to user equipment and network apparatus in mobile communications. According to the present disclosure, a number of possible solutions may be implemented separately or jointly. That is, although these possible solutions may be described below separately, two or more of these possible solutions may be implemented in one combination or another.

In NR, URLLC is supported for emerging applications that demands high requirements on end-to-end latency and reliability. A general URLLC reliability requirement is that a packet of size 32 bytes shall be transmitted within 1 millisecond end-to-end latency with a success probability of 10⁻⁵. URLLC traffic is typically sporadic and short whereas low-latency and high-reliability requirements are stringent. For example, the control reliability of URLLC has to be stricter than the data reliability which is up to 10⁻⁶ BLER.

A UE shall determine resource block assignments in time domain using the resource assignment field in detected PDCCH DCI. The time domain resource assignment field of the DCI provides scheduling parameters including a slot offset (e.g., K0/K2), a start symbol position and a duration to be applied in a transmission. In NR Release 15, it only configures up to 16 different time domain resource assignment possibilities UE-specifically by RRC. Then, the control information containing the scheduling grant contains a field (e.g., with up to 4 bits) indicating one of these semi-static configurations to the UE. However, the total number of possible combinations (e.g., the combinations of K0/K2, start symbol, duration) are much greater than 16. The current TD-RA framework is not sufficient for low-latency services (e.g., URLLC services).

In addition, some of the fields of the normal DCI are not applicable or does not make sense for the high latency sensitive transmissions. For example, the RRC-configured TD-RA table length has an impact on the DCI payload size. Reliability of the DCI depends on the size. The smaller the size of DCI is, the better the reliability may be given that the transmission resources are same due to the lower coding gain. Using normal DCI for the same reliability may need to increase the aggregation level, which has the drawback of blocking probability. Besides, smaller bandwidth parts may not be able to accommodate higher aggregation levels. Accordingly, compact DCI design is needed by the fact that the normal DCI size is large and inefficient for the URLLC transmissions. Small DCI size is important for reliability of control channel for some service types and hence more compact RRC-configured TD-RA tables are necessary.

In view of the above, the present disclosure proposes a number of schemes pertaining to configuring different TD-RA configurations for different service types with respect to the UE and the network apparatus. According to the schemes of the present disclosure, one TD-RA configuration may be configured for a first service type (e.g., URLLC service). Another TD-RA configuration may be configured for a second service type (e.g., eMBB service). With such design, the UE may be able to support URLLC-only service and/or both eMBB and URLLC services simultaneously.

To enhance current TD-RA configuration and framework, three example schemes are proposed in accordance with implementations of the present disclosure. In the first scheme, the UE may be configured with multiple TD-RA tables and one table may be active at a time. Specifically, the UE may be configured to receive a configuration of a plurality of TD-RA tables from a network node. The UE may be configured to activate one of the plurality of TD-RA tables. The UE may determine an allocated resource according to the activated TD-RA table. The UE may perform a transmission on the allocated resource. The transmission may comprise an uplink transmission and/or a downlink transmission.

Different TD-RA tables may be configured for different service types. For example, the plurality of TD-RA tables may comprise a first TD-RA table corresponding to URLLC services and a second TD-RA table corresponding to eMBB services. The UE may be configured with the plurality of TD-RA tables via a radio resource control (RRC) configuration. Each of the plurality of TD-RA tables may comprise a unique identifier (ID). For example, the RRC configuration may also comprise a plurality of unique IDs corresponding to each of the TD-RA tables. The UE may be configured to identify each of the TD-RA tables according to the corresponding unique ID.

In some implementations, one of the configured TD-RA tables may be set as a default TD-RA table. For example, one of the configured TD-RA tables may be the common TD-RA table which is used during the initial access procedures (e.g., message 3). The common TD-RA table may be configured as the default TD-RA table. Alternatively, another TD-RA table may be set as the default TD-RA table even if a common TD-RA table is configured at the UE for UE-specific resource assignments.

After the UE is configured with a plurality of TD-RA tables, one table may be activated at the UE. The activation may be signalled in the same RRC message wherein the TD-RA tables are configured. The activation may also be signalled in a different RRC message than the RRC message which configures the TD-RA tables.

Each TD-RA table may comprise a plurality of rows indicating different resource allocations combinations (e.g., the combinations of K0/K2, start symbol, duration). After one TD-RA table is activated, the TD-RA field in a scheduling DCI (e.g., DCI format 0_0, 0_1, 1_0, or 1_1) may indicate one of the rows in the activated TD-RA table. The UE may be configured to determine the allocated resource according to the indicated row in the activated TD-RA table.

Different TD-RA tables may have different sizes. TD-RA tables with different sizes may be configured for different service-type transmissions. For example, a compact size TD-RA table may be configured for the URLLC services. Thus, reduced payload size may be achieved for URLLC by reducing the number of TD-RA field bits in the DCI. The UE may be configured to determine the DCI payload size according to the size/length of the activated TD-RA table.

In the second scheme, the UE may be configured with a single TD-RA table. Specifically, the UE may be configured to receive a configuration of a TD-RA table from the network node. The UE may be configured to determine the size of the TD-RA table. The UE may determine an allocated resource according to the TD-RA table and the size of the TD-RA table. The UE may perform a transmission on the allocated resource. The transmission may comprise an uplink transmission and/or a downlink transmission.

Better allocation flexibility may be achieved while the single TD-RA table may be able to support both eMBB and URLLC services simultaneously. Specifically, the table size may be adjustable/configurable either by dynamic signaling or more flexible semi-static signaling. In some implementation, the size of the table may be indicated implicitly. The UE may be configured with a TD-RA table of any size by RRC signaling and no other indication signal is used for configuring the UE with a table size. Then, the number of bits in the TD-RA field in the scheduling DCI (e.g., DCI format 0_0, 0_1, 1_0, or 1_1) may be determined implicitly. The UE may be configured to determine the number of bits in the TD-RA field of DCI according to the size of the TD-RA table. In an event that the RRC-configured TD-RA table contains 30 entries, the UE may be configured to determine the number of DCI TD-RA bits by the equation of ceil(log₂ [Tablesize]). For example, in an event that the table size is 30, ceil(log₂ 30)=5 TD-RA DCI bits may be determined by the UE.

In some implementation, the size of the table may be indicated explicitly. The UE may be configured to determine the size of the TD-RA table according to a parameter (e.g., RRC parameter) received from the network node. The number of bits in the TD-RA field of a scheduling DCI (e.g., format 0_0, 0_1, 1_0, or 1_1) may be determined according to the explicitly configured table size by the RRC parameter. The UE may be configured to ignore a part of the TD-RA table in an event that a determined size of the TD-RA table is less than a configured size of the TD-RA table. For example, in an event that the size of the configured TD-RA table is 20 and the RRC-indicated table size parameter is 18, the UE may ignore the last 2 rows of the TD-RA table. In an event that the RRC table-size parameter is greater than the number of rows of the RRC-configured table and the UE is indicated by the TD-RA DCI field a certain row index with is greater than the table-size parameter, the UE may be not expected to use the DCI. The UE may be configured to discards the DCI.

In some implementation, when the UE is configured with a single TD-RA table, two or more table sizes may be configured to the UE. Each table-size parameter may be dedicated to a different service type. The UE may be configured to determine at least one of a first size of the TD-RA table corresponding to the URLLC service and a second size of the TD-RA table corresponding to the eMBB service. For example, in an event that the TD-RA table size is 30, the UE may determine a first size (e.g., size 1=16) and a second size (e.g., size 2=30). The first size may be dedicated to the URLLC service. The UE may use the top 16 values of the TD-RA table for the URLLC service and 4 bits may be needed in the DCI. The second size may be dedicated to the eMBB service. The UE may use the whole table for the eMBB service, and 5 bits may be needed in the DCI. The first size and the second size may be indicated/configured by RRC signaling. Alternatively, the UE may be configured with a single TD-RA table and an offset may be used to shift the interpretation of the index determined from the TD-RA bit field. The offset may be configured to the UE via RRC signaling or layer 1 (L1) signaling. The offset may be related or not related to a certain service type. For example, when the TD-RA DCI field points to the 5^(th) row of the TD-RA table and the offset is indicated as 12, the UE may be configured to interpret that the TD-RA DCI field points to the 17^(th) row instead.

In the third scheme, the UE may be configured with multiple TD-RA tables and multiple TD-RA tables may be dynamically activated simultaneously. Specifically, the UE may be configured to receive a configuration of a plurality of TD-RA tables from a network node. The UE may be configured to activate at least one of the plurality of TD-RA tables. The UE may determine an allocated resource according to at least one activated TD-RA table. The UE may perform a transmission on the allocated resource. The transmission may comprise an uplink transmission and/or a downlink transmission.

The UE may be configured with multiple TD-RA tables via RRC configuration and multiple TD-RA tables may be activated at the same time. For example, a first TD-RA table may be activated for URLLC-type services while a second TD-RA table may be activated for eMBB-type services. An RRC parameter may be used to configure the UE with multiple semi-static TD-RA tables. Another RRC parameter may be used to activate one or more of these configured TD-RA tables. For example, the value of the RRC parameter may correspond to an array of integer IDs.

One of the TD-RA tables may be set as the default TD-RA table. Each of the TD-RA tables may be associated with a unique ID. In some implementations, each or some of the TD-RA tables may be associated with a service-type identifier (e.g., label or ID) or any other type of service-type assignment/mapping. Such service-type association may not require UE identification of service type. For example, the service identifiers may simply be distinguished by integer-IDs. In other words, there may not be any explicit association between a specific service (e.g., URLLC) and a configured service identifier (e.g., ID #2) from UE point of view.

In some implementations, the UE may be unaware of the service type (i.e., service-type agnostic). Any of the activated tables may be used for any service. In such design, dynamic indication of the TD-RA table may be needed. A new DCI field may be defined to indicate one of the activated TD-RA tables. Alternatively, an additional bit in the TD-RA table may be used to indicate the activation. For example, one or more than one most-significant bit(s) or one or more than one least-significant bit(s) may be used to indicate the activated TD-RA table.

In some implementations, up to a maximum of one active TD-RA table may be allowed per service type. For example, one TD-RA table may be activated for the URLLC service and one TD-RA table may be activated for the eMBB service. In such design, physical layer UE identification of service type may be needed. The type of the service of a transmission may be explicitly or implicitly recognized by the UE. The UE may be configured to determine a service type corresponding to the at least one activated TD-RA table. For example, and without limitation, the UE may be configured to determine the service type according to at least one of a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) used to scramble the DCI, a DCI format/payload size, and a search space/search space type/control-resource set (CORESET).

Specifically, the UE may be configured to determine/recognize a service type of a scheduled transmission based on some properties of the DCI. For example, the UE may be configured to determine the service type according to an RNTI used by the DCI. A specific RNTI may be defined for the URLLC service. In an event that the same DCI format for scheduling is scrambled with a service-specific RNTI for URLLC, the UE may be able to implicitly recognize the associated service type of the scheduling DCI based on which RNTI can successfully decode the scheduling DCI.

Alternatively, the UE may be configured to determine the service type according to a search space of the DCI. A UE-specific search space may be configured in a CORESET. The UE may be configured with multiple search spaces for different PDCCH candidates. In NR, the configuration of a UE-specific search space for a PDCCH may be configured by UE-specific RRC signal. In an event that the scheduling DCI for URLLC and eMBB services are positioned in different PDCCH search spaces, the UE may be able to identify the correct DCI for each corresponding service type. The search space restrictions may be pre-determined (e.g., defined by NR specification). For example, one way to specify the search space is to restrict the DCI for URLLC to certain aggregation levels or to certain control channel elements (CCEs). Another way to specify the search space is to do the restriction based on orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol numbers.

In an event that UE detects multiple scheduling DCI in a CORESET, the UE may be configured to recognize them based on the specified/pre-determined rules. For example, the DCI for URLLC may be always configured at an earlier OFDM symbol than DCI for eMBB. The UE may be configured to determine different service types according to different DCI positions. The search space restrictions may also be signalled by RRC signalling. For example, another way to specify the search space is to signal the configurable service types by scheduling DCI in a certain PDCCH search space. This may be signalled in the same RRC message configuring the UE-specific PDCCH search spaces. Furthermore, the search space restrictions may also be extended to a dedicated CORESET. For example, a certain CORESET monitoring occasion may also be used to identify a service-type.

Alternatively, the UE may be configured to determine the service type according to at least one of a DCI format of the DCI, a DCI field of the DCI, and a payload size of the DCI. For example, in an event that a different or specific DCI format is defined specifically for the scheduling DCI for URLLC, the corresponding service type may be identified from the DCI format. A compact-sized DCI with a small payload size may be used for the URLLC service. In another example, a certain DCI field (e.g., modulation and coding scheme (MCS) table, number of bits in a certain field, etc.) may be used by UE to determine whether the DCI schedules a URLLC or eMBB transmission, therefore service-type may be identified implicitly. In another example, the DCI scheduling URLLC should have smaller payload size than the DCI scheduling eMBB. The UE may be able to differentiate different service types according to different payload sizes. Different mechanisms for UE indication of payload size may be considered and any of such indication may also be interpreted by the UE to identify service type.

In some implementations, the above mentioned three schemes may be applied for bandwidth part (BWP)-specific configuration. In other words, multiple sets of configurations may be configured for each of the RRC-configured BWPs. All of these multiple semi-static TD-RA table configurations may be based on the same scheme as described above. Alternatively, some of the BWP-specific semi-static TD-RA configuration(s) may be based on a different scheme. In addition, more than one of the described three schemes may be applied together and an RRC parameter may be used to switch between different schemes. Alternatively, more than one of the described three schemes may be applied together and some of the DCI properties may be used to switch between different schemes. The DCI properties may comprise, for example and without limitation, a type of the RNTI with which the scheduling DCI is scrambled, a DCI format or payload size, and a CORESET/search space.

Illustrative Implementations

FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication apparatus 110 and an example network apparatus 120 in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure. Each of communication apparatus 110 and network apparatus 120 may perform various functions to implement schemes, techniques, processes and methods described herein pertaining to configuring TD-RA for different service types with respect to user equipment and network apparatus in wireless communications, including schemes described above as well as processes 200 and 300 described below.

Communication apparatus 110 may be a part of an electronic apparatus, which may be a UE such as a portable or mobile apparatus, a wearable apparatus, a wireless communication apparatus or a computing apparatus. For instance, communication apparatus 110 may be implemented in a smartphone, a smartwatch, a personal digital assistant, a digital camera, or a computing equipment such as a tablet computer, a laptop computer or a notebook computer. Communication apparatus 110 may also be a part of a machine type apparatus, which may be an IoT or NB-IoT apparatus such as an immobile or a stationary apparatus, a home apparatus, a wire communication apparatus or a computing apparatus. For instance, communication apparatus 110 may be implemented in a smart thermostat, a smart fridge, a smart door lock, a wireless speaker or a home control center. Alternatively, communication apparatus 110 may be implemented in the form of one or more integrated-circuit (IC) chips such as, for example and without limitation, one or more single-core processors, one or more multi-core processors, one or more reduced-instruction set computing (RISC) processors, or one or more complex-instruction-set-computing (CISC) processors. Communication apparatus 110 may include at least some of those components shown in FIG. 1 such as a processor 112, for example. Communication apparatus 110 may further include one or more other components not pertinent to the proposed scheme of the present disclosure (e.g., internal power supply, display device and/or user interface device), and, thus, such component(s) of communication apparatus 110 are neither shown in FIG. 1 nor described below in the interest of simplicity and brevity.

Network apparatus 120 may be a part of an electronic apparatus, which may be a network node such as a base station, a small cell, a router or a gateway. For instance, network apparatus 120 may be implemented in an eNodeB in an LTE, LTE-Advanced or LTE-Advanced Pro network or in a gNB in a 5G, NR, IoT or NB-IoT network. Alternatively, network apparatus 120 may be implemented in the form of one or more IC chips such as, for example and without limitation, one or more single-core processors, one or more multi-core processors, or one or more RISC or CISC processors. Network apparatus 120 may include at least some of those components shown in FIG. 1 such as a processor 122, for example. Network apparatus 120 may further include one or more other components not pertinent to the proposed scheme of the present disclosure (e.g., internal power supply, display device and/or user interface device), and, thus, such component(s) of network apparatus 120 are neither shown in FIG. 1 nor described below in the interest of simplicity and brevity.

In one aspect, each of processor 112 and processor 122 may be implemented in the form of one or more single-core processors, one or more multi-core processors, or one or more RISC or CISC processors. That is, even though a singular term “a processor” is used herein to refer to processor 112 and processor 122, each of processor 112 and processor 122 may include multiple processors in some implementations and a single processor in other implementations in accordance with the present disclosure. In another aspect, each of processor 112 and processor 122 may be implemented in the form of hardware (and, optionally, firmware) with electronic components including, for example and without limitation, one or more transistors, one or more diodes, one or more capacitors, one or more resistors, one or more inductors, one or more memristors and/or one or more varactors that are configured and arranged to achieve specific purposes in accordance with the present disclosure. In other words, in at least some implementations, each of processor 112 and processor 122 is a special-purpose machine specifically designed, arranged and configured to perform specific tasks including power consumption reduction in a device (e.g., as represented by communication apparatus 110) and a network (e.g., as represented by network apparatus 120) in accordance with various implementations of the present disclosure.

In some implementations, communication apparatus 110 may also include a transceiver 116 coupled to processor 112 and capable of wirelessly transmitting and receiving data. In some implementations, communication apparatus 110 may further include a memory 114 coupled to processor 112 and capable of being accessed by processor 112 and storing data therein. In some implementations, network apparatus 120 may also include a transceiver 126 coupled to processor 122 and capable of wirelessly transmitting and receiving data. In some implementations, network apparatus 120 may further include a memory 124 coupled to processor 122 and capable of being accessed by processor 122 and storing data therein. Accordingly, communication apparatus 110 and network apparatus 120 may wirelessly communicate with each other via transceiver 116 and transceiver 126, respectively. To aid better understanding, the following description of the operations, functionalities and capabilities of each of communication apparatus 110 and network apparatus 120 is provided in the context of a mobile communication environment in which communication apparatus 110 is implemented in or as a communication apparatus or a UE and network apparatus 120 is implemented in or as a network node of a communication network.

In some implementations, processor 112 may be configured with multiple TD-RA tables and one table may be active at a time. Specifically, processor 112 may be configured to receive, via transceiver 116, a configuration of a plurality of TD-RA tables from network apparatus 120. Processor 112 may be configured to activate one of the plurality of TD-RA tables. Processor 112 may determine an allocated resource according to the activated TD-RA table. Processor 112 may perform, via transceiver 116, a transmission on the allocated resource.

In some implementations, the plurality of TD-RA tables may comprise a first TD-RA table corresponding to URLLC services and a second TD-RA table corresponding to eMBB services. Processor 112 may be configured with the plurality of TD-RA tables via an RRC configuration. Each of the plurality of TD-RA tables may comprise a unique ID. For example, the RRC configuration may also comprise a plurality of unique IDs corresponding to each of the TD-RA tables. Processor 112 may be configured to identify each of the TD-RA tables according to the corresponding unique ID.

In some implementations, after processor 112 is configured with a plurality of TD-RA tables, one table may be activated at communication apparatus 110. Processor 122 may signal the activation in the same RRC message wherein the TD-RA tables are configured. Processor 122 may also signal the activation in a different RRC message than the RRC message which configures the TD-RA tables.

In some implementations, each TD-RA table may comprise a plurality of rows indicating different resource allocations combinations (e.g., the combinations of K0/K2, start symbol, duration). Processor 122 may use the TD-RA field in a scheduling DCI (e.g., DCI format 0_0, 0_1, 1_0, or 1_1) to indicate one of the rows in the activated TD-RA table. Processor 112 may be configured to determine the allocated resource according to the indicated row in the activated TD-RA table.

In some implementations, processor 122 may configure TD-RA tables with different sizes for different service-type transmissions. For example, processor 122 may configure a compact size TD-RA table for the URLLC services. Thus, reduced payload size may be achieved for URLLC by reducing the number of TD-RA field bits in the DCI. Processor 112 may be configured to determine the DCI payload size according to the size/length of the activated TD-RA table.

In some implementations, processor 112 may be configured with a single TD-RA table. Specifically, processor 112 may be configured to receive, via transceiver 116, a configuration of a TD-RA table from network apparatus 120. Processor 112 may be configured to determine the size of the TD-RA table. Processor 112 may determine an allocated resource according to the TD-RA table and the size of the TD-RA table. Processor 112 may perform a transmission on the allocated resource.

In some implementations, the single TD-RA table may be able to support both eMBB and URLLC services simultaneously. Specifically, processor 122 may adjust/configure the table size either by dynamic signaling or more flexible semi-static signaling. In some implementation, processor 122 may indicate the size of the table implicitly. Processor 112 may be configured with a TD-RA table of any size by RRC signaling and no other indication signal is used for configuring the table size. Then, processor 112 may determine the number of bits in the TD-RA field in the scheduling DCI (e.g., DCI format 0_0, 0_1, 1_0, or 1_1) implicitly. Processor 112 may be configured to determine the number of bits in the TD-RA field of DCI according to the size of the TD-RA table. In an event that the RRC-configured TD-RA table contains 30 entries, processor 112 may be configured to determine the number of DCI TD-RA bits by the equation of ceil(log₂ [Tablesize]). For example, in an event that the table size is 30, ceil(log₂ 30)=5 TD-RA DCI bits may be determined by processor 112.

In some implementation, processor 122 may indicate the size of the table explicitly. Processor 112 may be configured to determine the size of the TD-RA table according to a parameter (e.g., RRC parameter) received from network apparatus 120. Processor 112 may determine the number of bits in the TD-RA field of a scheduling DCI (e.g., format 0_0, 0_1, 1_0, or 1_1) according to the explicitly configured table size by the RRC parameter. Processor 112 may be configured to ignore a part of the TD-RA table in an event that a determined size of the TD-RA table is less than a configured size of the TD-RA table. For example, in an event that the size of the configured TD-RA table is 20 and the RRC-indicated table size parameter is 18, processor 112 may ignore the last 2 rows of the TD-RA table. In an event that the RRC table-size parameter is greater than the number of rows of the RRC-configured table and processor 112 is indicated by the TD-RA DCI field a certain row index with is greater than the table-size parameter, processor 112 may be not expected to use the DCI. Processor 112 may be configured to discards the DCI.

In some implementation, when processor 112 is configured with a single TD-RA table, two or more table sizes may be configured to processor 112. Each table-size parameter may be dedicated to a different service type. Processor 112 may be configured to determine at least one of a first size of the TD-RA table corresponding to the URLLC service and a second size of the TD-RA table corresponding to the eMBB service. For example, in an event that the TD-RA table size is 30, processor 112 may determine a first size (e.g., size 1=16) and a second size (e.g., size 2=30). The first size may be dedicated to the URLLC service. Processor 112 may use the top 16 values of the TD-RA table for the URLLC service and 4 bits may be needed in the DCI. The second size may be dedicated to the eMBB service. Processor 112 may use the whole table for the eMBB service, and 5 bits may be needed in the DCI. Processor 122 may indicate/configure the first size and the second size by RRC signaling. Alternatively, processor 112 may be configured with a single TD-RA table and an offset may be used to shift the interpretation of the index determined from the TD-RA bit field. Processor 122 may configure the offset via RRC signaling or L1 signaling. For example, when the TD-RA DCI field points to the 5^(th) row of the TD-RA table and the offset is indicated as 12, processor 112 may be configured to interpret that the TD-RA DCI field points to the 17^(th) row instead.

In some implementation, processor 112 may be configured with multiple TD-RA tables and multiple TD-RA tables may be dynamically activated simultaneously. Specifically, processor 112 may be configured to receive, via transceiver 116, a configuration of a plurality of TD-RA tables from network apparatus 120. Processor 112 may be configured to activate at least one of the plurality of TD-RA tables. Processor 112 may determine an allocated resource according to at least one activated TD-RA table. Processor 112 may perform a transmission on the allocated resource.

In some implementation, processor 112 may be configured with multiple TD-RA tables via RRC configuration and multiple TD-RA tables may be activated at the same time. For example, processor 112 may activate a first TD-RA table for URLLC-type services and activate a second TD-RA table for eMBB-type services. Processor 122 may use an RRC parameter to configure communication apparatus 110 with multiple semi-static TD-RA tables. Processor 122 may another RRC parameter to activate one or more of these configured TD-RA tables. For example, the value of the RRC parameter may correspond to an array of integer IDs.

In some implementation, processor 112 may be unaware of the service type. Any of the activated tables may be used for any service. In such design, dynamic indication of the TD-RA table may be needed. Processor 122 may use a new DCI field to indicate one of the activated TD-RA tables. Alternatively, processor 122 may use an additional bit in the TD-RA table to indicate the activation. For example, processor 122 may use one or more than one most-significant bit(s) or one or more than one least-significant bit(s) to indicate the activated TD-RA table.

In some implementations, up to a maximum of one active TD-RA table may be allowed per service type. For example, processor 112 may activate one TD-RA table for the URLLC service and activate one TD-RA table for the eMBB service. In such design, identification of service type may be needed. Processor 112 may recognize the type of the service of a transmissions explicitly or implicitly. Processor 112 may be configured to determine a service type corresponding to the at least one activated TD-RA table. For example, and without limitation, processor 112 may be configured to determine the service type according to at least one of an RNTI used to scramble the DCI, a DCI format/payload size, and a search space/search space type/CORESET.

Illustrative Processes

FIG. 2 illustrates an example process 200 in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure. Process 200 may be an example implementation of above scenarios, whether partially or completely, with respect to configuring TD-RA for different service types with the present disclosure. Process 200 may represent an aspect of implementation of features of communication apparatus 110. Process 200 may include one or more operations, actions, or functions as illustrated by one or more of blocks 210, 220, 230 and 240. Although illustrated as discrete blocks, various blocks of process 200 may be divided into additional blocks, combined into fewer blocks, or eliminated, depending on the desired implementation. Moreover, the blocks of process 200 may executed in the order shown in FIG. 2 or, alternatively, in a different order. Process 200 may be implemented by communication apparatus 110 or any suitable UE or machine type devices. Solely for illustrative purposes and without limitation, process 200 is described below in the context of communication apparatus 110. Process 200 may begin at block 210.

At 210, process 200 may involve processor 112 of apparatus 110 receiving a configuration of a plurality of TD-RA tables from a network node. Process 200 may proceed from 210 to 220.

At 220, process 200 may involve processor 112 activating at least one of the plurality of TD-RA tables. Process 200 may proceed from 220 to 230.

At 230, process 200 may involve processor 112 determining an allocated resource according to the activated at least one of the plurality of TD-RA tables. Process 200 may proceed from 230 to 240.

At 240, process 200 may involve processor 112 performing a transmission on the allocated resource.

In some implementations, the plurality of TD-RA tables may comprise a first TD-RA table corresponding to a URLLC service and a second TD-RA table corresponding to an eMBB service.

In some implementations, process 200 may involve processor 112 activating the plurality of TD-RA tables simultaneously.

In some implementations, each of the plurality of TD-RA tables may comprise a unique identifier.

In some implementations, process 200 may involve processor 112 determining a service type corresponding to the activated at least one of the plurality of TD-RA tables.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example process 300 in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure. Process 300 may be an example implementation of above scenarios, whether partially or completely, with respect to configuring TD-RA for different service types with the present disclosure. Process 300 may represent an aspect of implementation of features of communication apparatus 110. Process 300 may include one or more operations, actions, or functions as illustrated by one or more of blocks 310, 320, 330 and 340. Although illustrated as discrete blocks, various blocks of process 300 may be divided into additional blocks, combined into fewer blocks, or eliminated, depending on the desired implementation. Moreover, the blocks of process 300 may executed in the order shown in FIG. 3 or, alternatively, in a different order. Process 300 may be implemented by communication apparatus 110 or any suitable UE or machine type devices. Solely for illustrative purposes and without limitation, process 300 is described below in the context of communication apparatus 110. Process 300 may begin at block 310.

At 310, process 300 may involve processor 112 of apparatus 110 receiving a configuration of a TD-RA table from a network node. Process 300 may proceed from 310 to 320.

At 320, process 300 may involve processor 112 determining a size of the TD-RA table. Process 300 may proceed from 320 to 330.

At 330, process 300 may involve processor 112 determining an allocated resource according to the TD-RA table and the size of the TD-RA table. Process 300 may proceed from 330 to 340.

At 340, process 300 may involve processor 112 performing a transmission on the allocated resource.

In some implementations, process 300 may involve processor 112 determining a number of bits in a TD-RA field of DCI according to the size of the TD-RA table.

In some implementations, process 300 may involve processor 112 determining the size of the TD-RA table according to a parameter received from the network node.

In some implementations, process 300 may involve processor 112 ignoring a part of the TD-RA table in an event that the determined size of the TD-RA table is less than a configured size of the TD-RA table.

In some implementations, process 300 may involve processor 112 determining at least one of a first size of the TD-RA table corresponding to a URLLC service and a second size of the TD-RA table corresponding to an eMBB service.

Additional Notes

The herein-described subject matter sometimes illustrates different components contained within, or connected with, different other components. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures are merely examples, and that in fact many other architectures can be implemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively “associated” such that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality can be seen as “associated with” each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components so associated can also be viewed as being “operably connected”, or “operably coupled”, to each other to achieve the desired functionality, and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewed as being “operably couplable”, to each other to achieve the desired functionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but are not limited to physically mateable and/or physically interacting components and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interacting components and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactable components.

Further, with respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. The various singular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity.

Moreover, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims, e.g., bodies of the appended claims, are generally intended as “open” terms, e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc. It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to implementations containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an,” e.g., “a” and/or “an” should be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more;” the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should be interpreted to mean at least the recited number, e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations. Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention, e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc. In those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention, e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc. It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be understood to include the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.”

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that various implementations of the present disclosure have been described herein for purposes of illustration, and that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the various implementations disclosed herein are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: receiving, by a processor of an apparatus, a configuration of a plurality of time domain-resource allocation (TD-RA) tables from a network node; activating, by the processor, at least one of the plurality of TD-RA tables; determining, by the processor, an allocated resource according to the activated at least one of the plurality of TD-RA tables; and performing, by the processor, a transmission on the allocated resource.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of TD-RA tables comprise a first TD-RA table corresponding to an ultra-reliable and low latency communications (URLLC) service and a second TD-RA table corresponding to an enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) service.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the activating comprises activating the plurality of TD-RA tables simultaneously.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of TD-RA tables comprises a unique identifier.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, by the processor, a service type corresponding to the activated at least one of the plurality of TD-RA tables.
 6. A method, comprising: receiving, by a processor of an apparatus, a configuration of a time domain-resource allocation (TD-RA) table from a network node; determining, by the processor, a size of the TD-RA table; determining, by the processor, an allocated resource according to the TD-RA table and the size of the TD-RA table; and performing, by the processor, a transmission on the allocated resource.
 7. The method of claim 6, further comprising: determining, by the processor, a number of bits in a TD-RA field of downlink control information (DCI) according to the size of the TD-RA table.
 8. The method of claim 6, wherein the determining of the size of the TD-RA table comprises determining the size of the TD-RA table according to a parameter received from the network node.
 9. The method of claim 6, further comprising: ignoring, by the processor, a part of the TD-RA table in an event that the determined size of the TD-RA table is less than a configured size of the TD-RA table.
 10. The method of claim 6, wherein the determining of the size of the TD-RA table comprises determining at least one of a first size of the TD-RA table corresponding to an ultra-reliable and low latency communications (URLLC) service and a second size of the TD-RA table corresponding to an enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) service.
 11. An apparatus, comprising: a transceiver capable of wirelessly communicating with a network node of a wireless network; and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver, the processor capable of: receiving, via the transceiver, a configuration of a plurality of time domain-resource allocation (TD-RA) tables from the network node; activating at least one of the plurality of TD-RA tables; determining an allocated resource according to the activated at least one of the plurality of TD-RA tables; and performing, via the transceiver, a transmission on the allocated resource.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the plurality of TD-RA tables comprise a first TD-RA table corresponding to an ultra-reliable and low latency communications (URLLC) service and a second TD-RA table corresponding to an enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) service.
 13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein, in activating the at least one of the plurality of TD-RA tables, the processor is capable of activating the plurality of TD-RA tables simultaneously.
 14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein each of the plurality of TD-RA tables comprises a unique identifier.
 15. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processor is further capable of: determining a service type corresponding to the activated at least one of the plurality of TD-RA tables.
 16. An apparatus, comprising: a transceiver capable of wirelessly communicating with a network node of a wireless network; and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver, the processor capable of: receiving, via the transceiver, a configuration of a time domain-resource allocation (TD-RA) table from the network node; determining a size of the TD-RA table; determining an allocated resource according to the TD-RA table and the size of the TD-RA table; and performing, via the transceiver, a transmission on the allocated resource.
 17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the processor is further capable of: determining a number of bits in a TD-RA field of downlink control information (DCI) according to the size of the TD-RA table.
 18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein, in determining the size of the TD-RA table, the processor is capable of determining the size of the TD-RA table according to a parameter received from the network node.
 19. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the processor is further capable of: ignoring a part of the TD-RA table in an event that the determined size of the TD-RA table is less than a configured size of the TD-RA table.
 20. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein, in determining the size of the TD-RA table, the processor is capable of determining at least one of a first size of the TD-RA table corresponding to an ultra-reliable and low latency communications (URLLC) service and a second size of the TD-RA table corresponding to an enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) service. 